


Reputation and Walls

by FredGeorge123



Series: Keith and Lance personality swap! But not quite [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But he's insecure that's why, F/M, Gen, Keith is a cinnamon roll, Lance can be a jerk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 02:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15109706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FredGeorge123/pseuds/FredGeorge123
Summary: Lance did not understand why on earth this was happening. He had been betrayed. By his best friend. By his all-time hero. By his crush. By the one of the three people he respected and the only one due to their kindness. By this little thing who he’ll accept as an acquaintance. By a way too happy-go-lucky- By his best friend.“What on earth is this?”“You know… we thought it’ll help you with your little problem,” Pidge shrugged."WHAT LITTLE PROBLEM?!""THAT LITTLE PROBLEM!"AKA Lance goes to a therapist because of his 'irritation problems'.AKA Character study.





	Reputation and Walls

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is better than the first...

Lance did not understand why on earth this was happening. He had been betrayed. By his best friend. By his all-time hero. By his crush. By the one of the three people he respected and the only one due to their kindness. By this little thing who he’ll accept as an acquaintance. By a way too happy-go-lucky- By his best friend.

 

“What on earth is this?”

 

“You know… we thought it’ll help you with your little problem,” Pidge shrugged. She and Hunk were examining some Altean mumbo-jumbo-whatever. Lance didn’t know. Two nerds were enough. So was one happy-go-lucky and extremely awkward hummingbird. Lance didn’t know why but he felt like the hummingbird was a hummingbird. Pidge was a squirrel and Hunk was a teddy bear. Shiro was a lion, Coran was a seal and Allura… Allura was a butterfly with big beautiful wings the colour of the evening sky with different shades of purple, indigo, blue, pink and orange with dazzling white spots which were like the stars in the sky.

 

…Lance had never had a crush and he was extremely glad that his thoughts were private because if they weren’t… he’d lose his reputation. Hunk would pat him on the back understandingly but would find it funny. Pidge would deadpan. Keith, that little sucker, would probably get a huge laugh out of it. That did not sound like Keith at all but Lance could see through all the lies and walls that little sucker put up to hide his true colours. Hunk would say Lance was being dramatic but Lance McClain was many things, like cold and ambitious and secretly insecure and has no idea what to do when you have crush on the most beautiful being to ever exist (but honestly, who didn’t?), but he was not most certainly dramatic.

 

“WHAT LITTLE PROBLEM?!” Lance shouted, angrily and slamming one hand on the table and getting up. He clenched his teeth and jutted his chin.

  
“THAT LITTLE PROBLEM!” Hunk shouted back. He then went back to examining the Altean mumbo-jumbo-whatever. Lance didn’t care. He wasn’t a nerd. He had better plans for life. He’d work hard which would hopefully let him become an amazing fighter class pilot and would become a commander, hopefully, and then Shiro would think he’s amazing, he’d beat Keith and Allura… No, he was focusing on his studies, not alien princesses with eyes that were like the Milky Way but with light blue.

 

Lance shut up and glared, raising an eyebrow. He did not understand what little problem he had. He was perfect. Well as far as they knew He did have his so-called inferior complex; he preferred resolution check-up. But anyway, the others didn’t know about it. Even his mother didn’t know about it.

 

Lance looked at the paper again and his frown deepened. A psychiatrist. He had no mental issues. None. Insecurity issues, sure. But anything else? And how did they know anything? Wait…

 

“WAIT!” the two nerds suddenly looked at his panicked face which he suddenly composed again. He was not going to lose his reputation. A shocked, panicked, uncollected face just wouldn’t do. The next face he was going to morph into was also uncollected but instead of shocked and panicked it was flustered and embarrassed which was even worse. He dignified himself in a flash. He wasn’t a good liar but he was a good actor. He had one over Keith~ Keith was horrible at acting. Lance had never seen Keith acting but he when he met Keith was more panicked and uncollected than the typical, stereotypical shy, fragile, nerdy girl in that anime Jose watched recently- Recently… How long has it been? Less than a year? A year? More than a year? He was pretty sure that it had been less than a year; six months at top. But… still… He missed his mother. And his father. And Jose. Even if Jose was way too annoying and Keith would probably get along with him due their happy-go-lucky personality and curiosity.

 

“What little problem?” Lance said raising an eyebrow suspiciously but kept his eyes emotionless. He crossed his arms and slouched slightly.

 

Pidge blinked and looked suspiciously at Lance, narrowing her eyes. After a while she replied, “Your irritated personality and occasional outbursts of anger.”

 

“I do not have anger issues…” Lance whispered dangerously.  
  


Hunk rolled his eyes. “Not anger issues, darling. Irritated personality problems. Anavi is a great listener. We’ve all been to her except Shiro and Keith. I think they’re each other’s psychiatrist.”

 

Stupid Keith. He stole his hero, his crush befriended with him (and Shiro), all the aliens actually admired Keith. How can one person be so popular and still awkward? The way he looked when conversing with someone apart from Shiro. An uncertain look dancing like the lighter lilac flecks in his violet eyes. His lower lip got swollen from biting it. His nervous smile. His cowered posture. Lance had never seen Keith relaxed for over a minute. Except with Shiro. Deep down Lance knew that Keith and Shiro had a history but… Keith had everything. Everything Lance had ever wanted. And Lance tried harder than Keith. This was something everyone could tell just by looking at the two. Keith was… happy-go-lucky. Lance knew he used that word too much to describe the hummingbird. But it fit so well along with awkward. Awkward, happy-go-lucky hummingbird.

 

“Listen, nerds,” Lance hissed angrily loosening his arms and clenching them into fists. He felt his stomach boil as he closed his eyes for a few seconds, clenching his teeth, and trying to calm himself slightly like his mum advised him to. “I am not going to the psychiatrist even if it means that I’ll have to train with Keith for a week.” Lance’s eyes then widened. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

 

“Actually let’s start again. I’d rather go to the psychiatrist than train with Keith for a week so let me start again,” Lance said trying to think of something better.

 

“Aw… why not? We both could make a great team…” a voice said from right behind him. And by right behind him, he meant right behind him. He sprang up from surprise and turned around faster than the speed of light.

 

“What are you doing here, hummingbird?” Lance shouted, accusingly pointing a finger in the other boy’s face. The purple eyed boy just blinked in confusion.

 

“…is that a new nickname? I guess it sounds nice but I like to think I’m more threatening than a hummingbird,” the shorter boy smiled and closed his eyes while rubbing the back of his neck. After no response for a while, he opened his eyes to see Lance giving him a not-so-amused look so he backed off a little. “Sorry... I’ll be quiet now,” He pretended to zip his lips and gave an innocent smile. Lance quirked an eyebrow slightly. Keith’s shoulders then slumped.

 

“Okay, I’m going!” Keith said pouting angrily and storming off. Lance was not going after him. One, Lance wasn’t that nice. Two, wait for it… three, two, one… Zero!

 

“I’m so sorry, Lance! I’m going but I’m not that mad! Sorry!” Keith’s panicked face reappeared. Seeing Lance’s face again, he then said, “Yeah… I’ll go now. I’ll be with Shiro, maybe. Or with the mice. Or Allura. Or Coran. Probably Shiro… bye!” And he was gone as soon as he came.

 

“Yeeesh…. Like, dude, you’re so slack! He’s not that bad to be honest,” Hunk shook his head looking at Lance in a mix of exasperation and disappointed. Disappointed exasperation. Exasperated disappointed. Yeah, the second probably.

 

Lance glared at Hunk who then sighed and looked back at his work.

 

“I’m not going and that’s final!”

-

-

-

-

-

-

Lance wanted to hit his head with the chair he was sitting on. Or throw it at someone.

 

Lance flinched.

 

…Okay now he was seeing it.

 

Keith had come with him. Keith seemed happy about it but nervous when Lance glared at him. Why they had to send Keith, Lance did not know.

 

The planet they were at was a pretty chill planet. It was quite normal coloured. Normal meaning close to Earth’s colours. This made Lance feel his stomach drop. He wasn’t going to think about this now though. The aliens like humans in figure but they had really sun-kissed skin. That sounded normal when said but it wasn’t if you saw them. And also since the planet was freezing. To withstand that weather… One of them should become the blue paladin Lance would die inside if that happened though. But still… they were wearing short clothes. And their pupils were weird colours. Weirder than Keith’s. There was one alien with amber eyes, another with the brightest green ever. One had eyes fully made from so many dots, all different colours. The also had patterns on their faces all different colours and different patterns. Also, they were a few feet taller and way skinnier than humans.

 

In the skin department, they all looked slightly worried at Lance. And one fainted at seeing Keith’s skin colour. They knew there were others out there but they looked similar to each to each other so... In eyes, only Keith would have been accepted. Maybe Keith had a parent from this planet. Lance did think Keith could be an alien. Lance liked his eye colour; it was the same as mother’s eyes. Camellia, Enrico and Sofia had their father’s. Jose had Mama’s mother’s eyes. The only reason they knew that was because Mama remembered her mother telling her every night that she had her father’s eyes. It was one of the only memories she had of them. Her aunt loved to tell their Mama stories about her parents when she was a little girl and their mother had liked listening to them. Their father had deep brown eyes with joking twinkle in them. Enrico’s eyes were confident and encouraging. Sofia’s eyes were of steel and cold but soften at times. Camellia’s eyes’ flecks were like golden embers from a blazing fire engulfing a piece of dark chestnut wood.  Mama had blue eyes with warmth and looked like a glittering ocean. Jose’s are a deep green like a forest and were always sparkling with happiness or something else. Jose was really emotional and was easy to read. Deep down, Lance wondered if Jose and Keith were quite similar and only had a different lifestyle which caused Keith to be so awkward. Lance didn’t know. As for Lance eyes… His mother said they were full of determination and a spirit that could not be trampled. He loved Mama. He never told her of his inferior complex but he had the feeling that she knew. His father poked fun at everyone. Maybe most fathers did. But a classmate was seen the other day when Lance was ten and out with Sofia. The boy was out with his family and his father had seemed to make a joke which made the boy look annoyed. But when Papa made jokes, they made Lance feel light-hearted and happy.

 

The office or whatever was all bright orange and yellow. It made Lance wrinkle his nose. He was all alone in this office. And there were all sorts of posters with the aliens saying something. Lance couldn’t be bothered to read the posters. They were in the alien language anyway. Their translators translated the language when spoken only, not visual.

 

“Lance McClain!” a voice called out. The woman on the front… table? It looked like a grey huge piece of cheese. Holes included. Lance wondered why it took so long. He was the only person here. Along with the desk lady and the psychiatrist.

 

The desk lady then stood up from her chair and ushered Lance into a room.

 

“I’m so sorry, Mr McClain,” the woman giggled, putting her wavy blue and green long hair into a ponytail and taking off her glasses. She took off her blazer and looked at Lance with a big smile. “Your friends, Hunk and Pidge, asked me to do this. They say it is a human introduction tradition but I’m sure it’s otherwise. Please take a seat.”

 

“Sure…” Lance muttered. He was going to act civil. He was going to prove the other two wrong. He did not have anger management issues. Or ‘irritation problems’.

 

“Call me Anavi,” she smiled.

 

“Okay, Lance. Tell me about life away from home.”

 

Lance paused. He wondered… Should he?

 

“Well… It is too bad to be honest. Especially since Hunk is here. Hunk has been my best friend since forever. Pidge’s okay. It was shocking when it turned out she was a girl. Shiro’s my all-time hero, ever since I was a kid. All of us were at a university where we were studying to become pilots, engineers, etc. Shiro was the best pilot there and was really good. I had this reputation ever since forever and am able to keep it here. Coran is really understanding which is surprising because the only understanding person who was considerate to me apart from my mum.”

 

Lance talked a little while about his teammates. He told about Hunk’s cooking and Shiro’s niceness. Pidge’s smartness and her friendship with Hunk which Lance sometimes thought could become more even though Hunk liked the Balmera girl, Shay. He talked about Coran and his whimsical and eccentric personality which reminded Lance of his father. He talked about Allura and how she was so beautiful but he had to worry about his studies so he could accomplish his ambitions and dreams. He talked about how the space mice liked being helpful. He talked about it all.

 

“They seem pretty cool. But you have one more teammate, right? Keith?”

 

Lance frowned. Keith. Anavi looked at him expectedly.

 

“If it’s a sore subject, then I won’t pressure you…”

 

Lance sighed. “Keith’s not bad… but…”

 

Lance talked about their first meeting and how Keith seemed so… naïve and awkward but then turned out to have been a prodigy, even more talented than Shiro. And how Shiro admired Keith and they seemed to have a close bond, perhaps closer than Hunk and Lance’s. How everyone was amazed by his talent and how even grumpy old Iverson had praised him. And… how it made Lance feel. And then Keith was gone… And now he’s back. And he’s even befriended Allura more than Lance has, although they seem to be platonic friends.

 

“I see… how was life at Earth?” Anavi asked not looking up from her notepad. Aliens were so advanced in technology and humans hardly used notepads at the Garrison and it was common to write on your phone or laptop or computer or whatever. And yet… Anavi was using a notepad. Lance had seen the other aliens on this planet and they used some sort of mobile phones.

 

Maybe Lance was looking too deep into that.

 

Lance then proceeded to talk about Mama and her kind smile and her cooking which could beat Hunk’s and Papa, who could make anyone laugh, and Enrico, who was the most reliable brother he could ask for, and his wife, Rosetta, who had urged him to sign up for the Garrison, and their kids, Rina and Hector, who everyone loved, and Sofia, who was cold and hard from the outside but actually so protective of her family, and Camellia, who hated injustice and cruelty, and Jose, how Lance was closest to him out of all his siblings and how they were best friends (Hunk too). How all his family had accomplished so many things and were so talented and amazing.

 

The therapist put her pen down a few minutes after Lance said he was finished. “Well, Lance… you’re one interesting character…”

 

“Is that it?” Lance asked confused.

 

“If you want it to be…”

 

Lance hesitated and thought about it. It felt… good to tell someone about all this. HE let a rare smile pass his face.

 

“Yeah, I guess…”

 

“Oops… I left my phone on the desk outside. I’ll call the castle to send someone to pick you up,” Anavi said, and with that she left. Lance looked at the notebook. It couldn’t hurt to look at it… right?

 

He picked it up and read the page which it was at.

 

Conclusion: Lance’s ambitiousness is extremely noticeable. This causes him to be reserved, unfriendly and cold often, with people out of his family and Hunk. His ambitiousness is caused by his insecurities and inferior complex. Seeing Keith as admired by even Iverson and his all-time hero makes him extremely furious. Seeing Keith getting into fighter class is Lance’s breaking point as he had spent his whole life studying and finding any legal ways to become an amazing pilot. This causes Lance to see Keith as a goal to surpass. Lance loves his family a lot; they’re all amazing and have accomplished great things. So Lance feels like it his duty to live up to these standards which he has put up for himself after seeing his family. He’s extremely obsessed with his reputation-

 

Lance’s eyes widened. He felt exposed and vulnerable. Anavi could… just by Lance talking about himself… She… All his walls and reputation… She saw through everything. Lance gulped and tried to calm down.

 

He didn’t read anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you like this!


End file.
